When an asteroid hit the moon in Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer depicted rural Pennsylvania as the earth is plunged into a tailspin of horrific climate changes. In this harrowing follow-up novel for young adults, Pfeffer examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, through the eyes of 17-year-old Alex Morales, whose parents never return, and who must now protect his two sisters.

"As riveting as Life as We Knew It and even grittier.... Once again Pfeffer creates tension not only through her protagonist's day-to-day struggles but also through chilling moral dilemmas: whether to rob the dead, who to save during a food riot, how long to preserve the hope that his parents might return.... The powerful images and wrenching tragedies will haunt readers."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"In Life as We Knew It, veteran writer Pfeffer painted a terrifying picture of what happened in a rural Pennsylvania town after an asteroid hit the moon and cataclysmic changes on land and sea caused familiar life to grind to a halt. For readers who wondered if things were any better in a bustling city, here is the horrifying answer. On the night the moon tilts, 17-year-old Alex and his younger sisters are alone; their mother is at work, and their father is visiting Puerto Rico. No matter how the kids wish, hope, and pray, their parents don't return. It's up to Alex to do what's best. At first that means bartering for food and batteries and avoiding fighting with the rambunctious Julie—especially after sickly Bri is sent to live at a rural convent. Later it means rescuing Julie from rapists and steering her away from the corpses that litter the street, providing food for rats. Religion is one of the strong threads running through the novel ... in many ways, the Church anchors the plot. The story's power, as in the companion book, comes from readers' ability to picture themselves in a similar situation; everything Pfeffer writes about seems wrenchingly plausible."—Booklist (starred review)